ADNOC Announces Long-Term Sustainability Goals for 2030

On January 13, 2021, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) unveiled a set of comprehensive sustainability goals, building on the company's long history of responsible oil and gas production and confirming its long-standing commitment to environmental care. His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and CEO of the ADNOC Group, made the statement during the opening ceremony of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW).

 

The sustainability objectives support ADNOC's mission of becoming the best-in-class in terms of sustainability, maximizing value for the UAE (UAE). They also highlight ADNOC's outstanding environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance as it responds to rising global energy demand and implements its smart growth strategy for 2030. They are also in line with the United Nations' (UN) Sustainable Development Goals for responsible consumption and production, climate action, biodiversity conservation, and economic opportunity.

ADNOC wants to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity by 25% by 2030 as part of its sustainability targets, solidifying its position as one of the world's least carbon-intensive oil and gas businesses. ADNOC is one of the top five lowest GHG emitters in the oil and gas business, according to the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP), and has one of the lowest methane intensities of 0.01 percent.

ADNOC also pledges to keep its freshwater consumption to less than 0.5 percent of overall water consumption. Today, almost 99 percent of the water ADNOC uses for cooling is extracted saltwater, which is then treated and discharged back to the sea after meeting ADNOC's stringent discharge criteria.

ADNOC will also continue to safeguard and support biodiversity in its activities and the surrounding environment. ADNOC intends to plant 10 million mangrove seedlings in the Al Dhafra Region of Abu Dhabi by the end of 2022 as part of this commitment.

Mangroves have a huge ability to absorb CO2 and other greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, trapping them in wet soils. Mangroves also support a diverse ecosystem, provide home for marine life, and serve as a natural barrier to increasing sea levels and coastal erosion.

ADNOC aims to achieve 50% In-Country Value (ICV) across its entire value chain by 2030, building on the success of its ICV program, which was launched in January 2018 to encorage private-sector partnerships, catalyze socio-economic development, improve knowledge transfer, and create skilled jobs for UAE citizens.

The ICV initiative at ADNOC is a critical component of the company's commitment to driving advancement and development in the UAE. Since its inception in January 2018, the initiative has returned approximately AED 44 billion ($12 billion) to the UAE economy and produced over 1,500 private-sector jobs for UAE nationals.

The aim of ADNOC to be the global benchmark for safety and asset integrity underpins its sustainability ambitions.

 

"ADNOC's sustainability targets further illustrate ADNOC’s  commitment to responsible manufacturing, which has been ingrained in ADNOC’s  business processes since the company's inception in 1971," remarked H.E. Dr. Al Jaber. This dedication derives from the vision of His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the UAE's Founding Father, who pioneered sustainability and the conservation of the country's natural ecosystems.

"In terms of ADNOC’s  contribution to the economy, the environment, and ADNOC’s  most valuable asset, ADNOC’s  people, we are taking a thorough and holistic approach to ADNOC’s  sustainability strategy." As we expand ADNOC’s  operations, we're improving ADNOC’s  environmental performance to ensure that we can continue to offer more energy with fewer emissions for decades to come.

Specifically, through ADNOC’s  In-Country Value goal, we are reaffirming ADNOC’s  role as the major catalyst of the UAE's socioeconomic development, while maintaining a solid focus on the safety of ADNOC’s  people and the integrity of ADNOC’s  assets." Building on 50 years of responsible production, ADNOC will continue to emphasize sustainability in collaboration with key stakeholders, and will continue to invest heavily in new and innovative technologies to improve environmental performance."

ADNOC is capitalizing on the success of the region's first commercial-scale carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) facility to achieve its aim of reducing its GHG intensity by 25%.

The Al Reyadah facility can currently capture 800,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. ADNOC intends to increase the program's capacity by sixfold by capturing CO2 from its own gas plants, with the goal of reaching 5 million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2030 – the equivalent of the annual carbon capture capacity of more than 5 million acres of forest, or a forest nearly twice the size of the UAE.

ADNOC's historic zero intentional flaring policy, which has decreased the volume of natural gas flared by more than 90% since the company's foundation, is one of the primary success reasons in the company's outstanding environmental performance.

ADNOC is also taking proactive measures to conserve fragile ecosystems in its operating locations, as well as biodiversity, maritime development, and ecosystems within the communities in which it operates. ADNOC has planted approximately 250,000 mangrove seedlings in the emirate of Abu Dhabi to date in order to protect the UAE coastline's biodiversity. To safeguard marine life and sustain ocean health, ADNOC has constructed 293 artificial coral reefs.

 

Environmental protection is a crucial component of ADNOC's 'Oil and Gas 4.0' goal, which aims to modernize the oil and gas industry so that it can continue to play an important role in the future diverse energy mix. To monitor and mitigate the environmental implications of its activities, the corporation prioritizes investments in cutting-edge technologies.

ADNOC's Panorama Digital Command Center includes a unique health, safety, and environment (HSE) information system that harvests data from millions of data sensors to provide rapid, real-time readings across several environmental key performance indicators (KPIs).

 

ADNOC is a pioneer in the use of optical images to monitor environmental concerns, using infrared cameras across its activities to assist generate a complete picture of its fugitive emissions. Furthermore, the organization has been a leader in the use of drones with imaging technologies to inspect flare stacks.

 

To ensure efficient management of wastes generated by the oil and gas industries, ADNOC built a state-of-the-art Centralized Hazardous Waste and Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) treatment and disposal plant.